Standards-Based Grading

I did a Google image search for standards-based grading and this is the first thing that came up.

I think it sums up SBG pretty well. If you are a successful person, your path to success probably didn’t look like the graph on the left. Why should we hold our students to that unrealistic standard?

I heard about standards-based grading a few years ago from a colleague at a workshop and immediately started reading every blog I could about it. I think Shawn Cornally says it best on his blog Think, Thank, Thunk with “it’s like learning Santa Claus isn’t real.” You just can’t go back to your old way of thinking once you learn about standards-based grading.

The main paradigm shifts in standards-based grading are:

1. Track grades by learning target instead of by assignment

2. Give students small, frequent assessments instead of long exams

3. Assess learning targets multiple times instead of a using single snapshot of student knowledge

4. Give students the chance to reassess learning targets

Here are some posts about my particular “flavor” of standards-based grading: